Boy, 15, killed in big cat attack in Kheri

Pilibhit: A 15-year-old mentally challenged boy was killed in a big cat attack near Khairatia village, close to Belrayan forest range of North Kheri forest division, on Tuesday.The boy's body was found on Tuesday morning inside a thatched roadside structure about 2km from the forest along the Indo-Nepal border in Kheri district. Rajkamal had earlier left home on several occasions and walked out at night without informing family members.Forest officials said the animal responsible for killing the boy is yet to be identified. It could be either a leopard or a tiger, as pugmarks could not be traced due to the hard soil surface at the site. An official said part of the boy's neck had been eaten and deep claw injuries were found below his chin.Farmer Sukhvinder Singh said villagers protested, alleging inaction by the forest department over the movement of stray leopards in the area. Protesters initially did not allow police to take the body for a postmortem.On receiving information, forest, police and administrative officials, including SDM Rajiv Nigam and Nighasan circle CO Shivam Kumar, reached the spot.The body was sent for autopsy after authorities assured the family of Rs 5 lakh compensation, Rs 4 lakh from the state disaster relief fund and Rs 1 lakh from the forest department. Officials also assured residents that cages with live bait would be placed to capture the animal.DFO Chaudhary told TOI that monitoring teams had been deployed to trace the animal and that camera traps would be installed for identification.This is the third killing in big cat attacks reported this year in North Kheri forest division. On Jan 12, a 35-year-old woman, Usha Devi, was mauled to death by a leopard in Mahraj Nagar village near Nighasan forest range while collecting fodder in a field. In another incident, Munshi Ram, 35, of Chhedia village was killed by a tiger while collecting dry grass for thatching near Pipraula forest pocket.